Schleppenbach: Defending Criminal Customs & Trade Fraud Charges: Department of Justice’s New White Collar Priority
Changes in presidential administrations frequently bring shifting enforcement priorities. A somewhat surprising change for President Donald Trump’s second term in office is his administration’s move to include customs and trade fraud as a priority for criminal enforcement as opposed to civil enforcement, according to Shook Partner Jay Schleppenbach. Schleppenbach wrote an article on the Trump Administration’s customs and trade enforcement priorities for the January/February 2026 issue of The Champion, a magazine of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
In the article, Schleppenbach discusses how criminal customs and trade fraud prosecutions have become a high priority for the U.S. Department of Justice, what those prosecutions may look like, and how attorneys can help their clients defend against them and avoid prosecutions in the first place. He suggests that companies get their affairs in order now to head off costly litigation down the road.
“Undoubtedly there is room for those who are criminally charged for customs and trade fraud to raise defenses, for example by challenging whether they had a culpable state of mind or whether the entry of goods violated a law as opposed to just a regulatory scheme,” Schleppenbach writes. “But defending criminal charges can be costly and create significant reputational and shareholder harms. So the time is now for companies to take steps to ensure customs and trade fraud compliance and avoid the specter of such prosecutions.”
Read more at The Champion (membership required) >>
In the article, Schleppenbach discusses how criminal customs and trade fraud prosecutions have become a high priority for the U.S. Department of Justice, what those prosecutions may look like, and how attorneys can help their clients defend against them and avoid prosecutions in the first place. He suggests that companies get their affairs in order now to head off costly litigation down the road.
“Undoubtedly there is room for those who are criminally charged for customs and trade fraud to raise defenses, for example by challenging whether they had a culpable state of mind or whether the entry of goods violated a law as opposed to just a regulatory scheme,” Schleppenbach writes. “But defending criminal charges can be costly and create significant reputational and shareholder harms. So the time is now for companies to take steps to ensure customs and trade fraud compliance and avoid the specter of such prosecutions.”
Read more at The Champion (membership required) >>
